I broke my Skil Random Orbital Sander....

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  • dbhost
    Slow and steady
    • Apr 2008
    • 9209
    • League City, Texas
    • Ryobi BT3100

    I broke my Skil Random Orbital Sander....

    So my Skil orbital sander that I bought in 2005 from Walmart finally gave up the ghost. I've been using it a LOT lately sanding drywall, and the switch has been feeling "crackly" recently. Well when I went to use it last night. Like always plug in, and flip the switch.

    Nothing.

    Unplug, try a different outlet. Nope, not the outlet...

    Unpug again. Shake the sander...

    Nope, too many pieces in there...

    Looks like it's just time to get a new sander...

    14 years of heavy use and abuse. It should be mentioned that this sander is the one I reach for first in almost every situation. I mean I do have a quarter sheet sander as well, but I prefer the results I am getting from the Random Orbital sander...

    Now the decision. I got 14 years of hard abusive use out of the Skil, and they are priced nicely, but is it the best option I have at the under $50.00 price point?

    I need input here somewhat quickly, I need to get a new sander tonight...

    So what say you. What sander would you buy assuming you could get it at Harbor Freight, Home Depot, Lowes, or Walmart and wanted to keep the budgtet under $50.00?
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  • capncarl
    Veteran Member
    • Jan 2007
    • 3564
    • Leesburg Georgia USA
    • SawStop CTS

    #2
    I’ve had surprisingly good luck with the cheapest Black & Decker Sanders I can find. I use them for the rough dirty dusty work that I don’t won’t to use my Festool sanders on.
    They actually have less vibration to my hands than the Mikita and Bosch sanders do.

    Comment

    • billwmeyer
      Veteran Member
      • Feb 2003
      • 1858
      • Weir, Ks, USA.
      • BT3000

      #3
      I've had good results from my Ryobi 18 volt cordless. I haven't used it a lot since I had my stroke a few months after I bought it. I had a corded Ryobi that didn't work well and finally just didn't move much. The cordless impressed me.
      "I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in."-Kenny Rogers

      Comment

      • durango dude
        Senior Member
        • Mar 2011
        • 934
        • a thousand or so feet above insanity
        • 50s vintage Craftsman Contractor Saw

        #4
        My go to these days is a Ridgid ROS.

        You can get one at direct tool outlet for $22 today.

        Comment

        • Carlos
          Veteran Member
          • Jan 2004
          • 1893
          • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

          #5
          I am totally in love with my Porter-Cable 5" ROS, with an Abranet disk kit. Zero dust, soft start, very little vibration into your hand.

          Comment

          • dbhost
            Slow and steady
            • Apr 2008
            • 9209
            • League City, Texas
            • Ryobi BT3100

            #6
            OK it's not much to brag about and it's far from the most powerful model on the planet but I ended up grabbing the to amp Black and Decker from Walmart that comes with a pack of 120 grit sanding disks

            This actually is kind of a sensible purchase for me as the way I treat Sanders I will destroy a good sander eventually by abusing the poor thing. I've killed 2 makita Palm Sanders and now the skill sander. Not that how is using them as intended.

            I was using the skill sander to sand dry wall so it was rather abusive. I will say connected to the Thien separator it really picked up the dust well and I expect the Black and Decker to perform the same.
            Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.

            Comment

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